In the last game of the year, the Latvian national football team will try to win the first victory in the UEFA League of Nations. This will be the ninth mutual meeting of Latvia against Andorra. Start at 21.45, live TV6.
The Andorans have so far been able to score only one goal in eight games against Latvia, which took place for the first time in 1997. Latvia has not yet lost against Andorra. Five wins and three draws have been won, however, judging by the result in the last three matches, the view is not very gratifying – we have played a goalless draw with Andorra three times in a row. Last time in September, Latvia dominated the field and statistics, created a lot more chances to score and gained a depressing advantage, but the ball did not want to fly in the goal. At the post-match press conference against the Faroe Islands, the head coach of the national team Dainis Kazakevičs revealed that a draw without a goal against Andorra had a very bad effect on the team’s psychological situation, as they failed to win by a huge margin. After the Faroe Islands game at home in the Covid-19 test, all national footballers tested negative for Covid-19.
Andorra is made up mainly of players from the local championship and the Spanish lower leagues. The team is quite experienced, as evidenced by nine players over the age of 32. In November, Andorra lost both games. First, away from the current European champion, Portugal was defeated by 0: 7, and then in Malta – 1: 3. Since 2018, two victories have been won – 1: 0 against both Moldova and Liechtenstein.
If someone said before the cycle that Latvia would not have won even after five games of the League of Nations, few would believe. However, the situation at the moment is shameful. There are four draws and one loss against the weakest teams in Europe, which marks our place on the football map. It is no longer even possible to move up to second place in the group, but only to keep third. To do this, losses in Andorra must be avoided. Kazakevich avoided answering the question in the form of an admission whether Andorra should resign after the loss. “When I came to work for the national team, I realized that the work, as I see it, takes time. If time is given, I am ready to take responsibility for my work. If someone decides that time will not be given, it is also a normal situation in professional football. My message is simple: from one particular game result, my vision or direction will not change.
Latvia
142nd place in the FIFA rankings (record 45th place)
Leaders: Kaspars Dubra (Alexandria, Ukraine), Marcis Osh (Lugano, Switzerland), Janis Ikaunieks (RFS)
Head coach: Dainis Kazakevičs
Andorra
FIFA ranked 145th (record 125th)
Leaders: Sebastian Gomess (Engordany), Serhio Moreno (Inter d’Escaldes), Marsio Vieira (Atleico Monzon, Spain)
Head coach: Koldo Alvaress
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